There are many drugs sold today which contain ingredients which are toxins if taken in large doses. Such drugs are commonly used in coronary care and chemotherapy, as well as the treatment of AIDS and other illnesses. In most instances warning labels are placed on the bottles by pharmacists and patients are instructed to carefully monitor dosages. However, with the increase in mail order delivery of prescriptions there is a need to heighten a patient's awareness that certain medications must be carefully administered.
Many patients often take a large number of medications, often prescribed for different intervals. Some of these medications are of little consequence if taken to frequently, but others can be dangerous. Patients can easily become confused regarding whether any particular medication has been taken and whether the doubtful medication is one that can be harmful.
Sometimes aged patients have trouble reading or understanding labels and so are not aware of any particular danger with a drug. This is often true of patients having the greatest need for strong medication.
Another problem is that many patients have difficulty remembering the time of their last dose. Bottles are clearly labeled with dosages but frequently a wrong dosage occurs because a patient cannot remember whether a medication has been taken, often because the task is performed mechanically and does not register in the patient's awareness.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,380 Howard et al. disclose a holding device for medication containers which provide a patient with the last time the medicine was taken by actuating a timer with a switch. The medication container is nested in a holder which sits in a base having timing circuits.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,419,016 and 4,939,705 both disclose pill bottles having closures which incorporate timing devices which remind the patient of the time for a dose. There are many other patents which deal with the same problem, many with sophisticated electronics which alert a user to the next time a dosage is to be taken.
Of particular concern is the risk associated with toxic doses, as well as providing reminders of the next dose. Timing considerations are critical in drug risk analysis because a patient who is not aware of his last dose can consume an overdose of a toxic drug. An object of the invention has been to provide a medication container which indicates the time of the last dose in a manner which may be incorporated into existing pill vials.